


Nightmares

by pleasejustpickaname



Series: Kitty Cat [5]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Cat Hybrid Choi San, Cat Hybrid Park Seonghwa, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Men Crying, Nightmares, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasejustpickaname/pseuds/pleasejustpickaname
Summary: Hongjoong had almost forgotten that the hybrids came from an abusive background.He is reminded of that in a rather unpleasant and terrifying way.
Series: Kitty Cat [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852078
Kudos: 43





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short little one shot, I'm trying to ease myself back into writing more.

Hongjoong was surprised it took this long.

Now, hear him out. He understood that the two cats had come from an abusive household, he knew their past, and he knew that inevitably something like this would happen... But with it being a few months since they had moved in, he didn't expect any of it to manifest now.

So waking up to a gut-wrenching scream panicked him more than he should.

He dashed out of bed, slipping on the laminate flooring as he tried to get to the cats room as quickly as possible. Their new fame had his mind going mental, visions of someone breaking in and trying to take them--

His hand closed on the doorknob and wrenched it open, heart stopping in - relief? Anguish? He didn't know. A shiver of something went down his back, watching San twisting in the sheets while Seonghwa tried to wake him up.

A nightmare. OK. Yeah. He could deal with that.

He quietly closed the door behind him just as another wail escaped the sleeping kittens lips, grimacing at the volume as he stepped into their nest. As the elder cat looked up at him with teary eyes, he knew Seonghwa was just as lost as he was.

Between the two of them, they managed to get him awake, soothing him down to sniffles and holding him between the two of them. Seonghwa crooned words of comfort in a sickly sweet voice, while Hongjoong listened to San's choked explanation of his dream, offering a hand to squeeze and a plushie to crush. When he finally drifted off again, the relief in the room was almost tangible.

Laying the kitten back down in the nest, Seonghwa worried at his bottom lip, biting it so hard his canines actually pierced it. Shaking his head slightly, Hongjoong chastised him, getting some toilet paper to absorb the blood. They didn't want to make a mess of the nest after all.

With the eldest cat holding toilet paper to his lip, and teary eyes, Hongjoong's brain seemed to stammer. He'd never seen the elder look- well, look so - small? Fragile? Delicate? Any number of words could be applied to Seonghwa's current position, none of which the human would usually associate with him.

Tentatively, as if afraid of rejection, Hongjoong lightly pulled Seonghwa in his direction. Inch by inch, the cat got closer to his body, until his head was resting in Hongjoong's lap. Their eyes made contact, Seonghwa's big lost ones meeting the humans concerned ones. It was like the concern made Seonghwa more emotional, as tears started trickling out of his eyes, much to Hongjoong's panic.

"Hey, hey, it's OK!" He soothed quickly, wiping away the tears and pulling him a little upright so he was on his lap like a baby. He pulled the elders face into the crook of his neck, letting him hide there and cry quietly. One small hand threaded into Seonghwa's hair, the other stroking up and down his back gently.

"He's OK now," Hongjoong whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to Seonghwa's forehead. It felt odd, treating Seonghwa like San. The elder never usually needed this kind of comfort. "He's OK, I promise. He's asleep now, it wasn't real and it scared him but that's OK. You're both OK, I promise. You're safe with me, Kitten."

Seonghwa mewled a little bit at being called kitten, and Hongjoong realised with a sinking heart that while he was a cat, he still was like a kitten. He liked to play with San, he liked kiddie stuff-- he was as much of a kitten as San was, except San was physically a kitten.

"I've got you kitten, don't worry about a thing. You're safe here, no one's gonna hurt either of you. I promise."

***

The nightmares became a weekly thing after that.

The therapy they got the cats into was helping, don't get Hongjoong wrong. It was.

But every night after a therapy session, it was almost a guarantee that one of the cats would have a nightmare, sometimes both if it was a hard session.

San had the most frequent nightmares, having actually borne the brunt of the physical abuse. He seemed to relive that one pivotal moment, where Mama raised the wine bottle above her head, except Seonghwa couldn't get to him in time. He always woke up as the bottle made contact, and would be wailing in fear, pain and confusion. Where was Seonghwa? Why didn't Seonghwa help him? Why did Mama hurt him? Those thoughts racked San's kitten brain until he was soothed, realising that he wasn't with Mama anymore, and that he was safe. On really bad nights, the only thing to calm the kitten would be a bottle, just resting with someone and focusing on the warm milk solution entering his throat.

Seonghwa's nightmares were less frequent, but no less heart-breaking. Most of Seonghwa's nightmares involved not getting to San in time. When they first met, and Mama dropped the box- the collision could have killed the delicate kitten! Not giving food to San one night and opening his closet to find he had starved to death was another one. The most frequent one though, was again, the wine bottle. Seonghwa would often be frozen to the side, watching the bottle shatter over San's head while the kitten crumpled lifelessly to the ground, blood mixing with wine while Seonghwa screamed but couldn't move - -

Seonghwa's nightmares weren't as easy to soothe. A cuddle and a bottle weren't enough. In fact, he rarely went back to sleep, just going about his day until he passed out from exhaustion. The only thing that would help was seeing San. He had to be near the kitten, touching the kitten, holding the kitten-- if he wasn't he'd get agitated, paranoid even. It was heart-wrenching.

But with time, it got better. No longer weekly, it eventually became monthly, until barely ever. They would never stop, and they knew that. Every so often something could trigger either of them, and a nightmare would occur and shake the house. But they were getting better, they knew how to handle it.

They would get through it.

Just like they did everything else.


End file.
